Aeroplane.



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AERQPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20, 191?. l I 1,295,649. Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

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I AEROPL'ANE. '-APPLlcATloN FILED MAR.20.19\1.

Patented Feb.25,1919.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEYS VVmi maoilAUTiC'sY J. F. WEBB, Sn. AEROPLANE.'

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20.1917.

Patented Feb.25,1919.

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42744. AERONAUS W J. F. WEBB, SR.

AERQPLANE. APPLICATION FiLED MAMZO, 1917.

'Patented Feb.25,1919.

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l g i 244. AhliUNAU l lUb JEAN F. WEBB, SR., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application led March 20, 1917. Serial No. 156,161.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JEAN F. WEBB, Sr., residing at New York, in thecounty of- New York and State of New York, have invented ward one of 45,independent of the use of the ordinary ailerons,7 and then be heldsecurely locked at the angle needed until the height to which it isdesired to rise is attained.

Another object is to enable an ordinary triplane to have a far greaterweight-carrying or sustaining power than is possible with the presentform of iiXed, rigid planes; for by pivoting or hinging the centralplane as shown, it can be set and locked at such a lifting andsustaining angle that the pressure upward of the air in striking it willgive it an enormous increase in lifting and sustaining power.

Another object is to provide the small, swift triplanes, (pursuit type)that are used by the Army as air speed scouts, with a safe means ofslowing down their high speed when in midair, without the danger ofdropping downward from the force of gravity; and of enabling them toalight slowly and safely by tilting the central plane when viiight isended. Military aeroplanes constructed in this manner will also provemost effective in climbing upward into the air at a very rapid rate, torise above dirigibles of the Zeppelin type, to attack them in the mosteffective way-from above.

Another object is to provide a scouting hydroplane for warships, orother naval uses, whose central plane can be set and locked at a sharprising angle before starting the engine, and thus force it to risedirectly upward from the deck of a ship, or from the surface of thewater, without the necessity of a long run; and which can be socontrolled by the pivoted plane, that it can be slowed down so graduallyas to alight safely without jar or shock on the deck of the ship, whenreturning from a scouting aight.

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hydroplanes to slow down their speed in mid-air, when hunting forsubmerged submarines, by setting the pivoted plane at such an angle thatthe lifting and sustaining power of the machine is just sufficient atslow speed to overcome gravity; they can then proceed slowly enough toaccurately spot a submerged submarine under them, and, if desired, todrop bombs upon it.

The invention also has for its object to provide a means for connectingthe tilting sustaining planes with the rear horizontal rudders so thatas the sustaining planes are tilted the rudders will be harmoniouslyactuated to add their eifort to that of the tilted plane in rising orlanding.

The invention also resides in those novel details of construction,combination and arrangement, all of which will be first fully described,then be specically pointed out in the appended claims, and illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view and part sect-ion taken beneath theupper plane and showing the intermediate tiltable plane.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view and part section showing the rack andpinion structure.

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating diagrammatically the manner ofconnecting the tilting frame with the horizontal rudder.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a modification of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the plane structure shown inFig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic elevation of a further modification showing aplurality of tilting planes forming in connection with the rigid planesa quadplane structure.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the application of thehydroairplane.

In the drawings, in which like letters and numerals of referenceindicate like parts in all of the figures, l represents the fuselagewhich is mounted in the usual way to be sustained by the upper and lowerfixed planes 2-2 that are spaced apart by vertical strut-s 3 anddiagonal braces 4, the braces 4 serving to sustain the trunnion bearings5 for the tiltable midplanes 6. The construction of the parts 1, 2 and'3 may be as in the present practice and per se constitute no part of myinvention.

In applying my invention to aeroplanes, the midplane 6 is provided witha suitable light rectangular framework 7 which sustains the usual planestructure and to which frame 7 the arcuate racks lO are secured bysuitable light tubular bracings 8 and 9 (see Fig. 4), the racks 10having a relatively rigid connection with the planes 6 through theirconnection with the frame 7 of such planes.

11 designates a shaft which runs the length of the planes and isjournaled in suitable bracketbearing supports 12 that are secured to thevertical struts 3. On the shaft 11 are a number of rack pinions 13having flanges 14 to cooperate with the rack segments 10, the number ofrack pinions 13 being equal to the number of racks 10. The shaft 11 isalso provided with a worm gear 15 with which a worm 16 on a controlshaft 17 meshes, the shaft 17 being under control 4of the operator sothat by turning the shaft 17, the operator may incline the planes 6 forrising or landing purposes, as may be desired.

In order that the movements of the horizontal rudder may be coordinatedwith the movements of the planes 6, the rudder 19 may be provided with atiller 2O that is connected by wires 21 with a similar tiller 18 secured to the frame of the planes 6 and the tiller wires 21 may be run inany desired way from the front to the back of the machine, eitheroutside as shown in the drawings, or over suitable guide pulleys throughthe fuselage as desired, as the particular way in which the wires 21 arerun from the plane 6 to the rudder 19 is not material and will dependupon the requirements of good design as may be found convenient inpractice.

Instead of having the entire midplane arranged to tilt the midplane maybe made in sections, certain sections 22 being rigid while the othersections 6 are tiltable. This arrangement is indicated in Fig. 7, byreference to which it will be noticed that the rigid planes 22 arelocated at the ends and the tilting planes are located adjacent to thefuselage, although a reversal of these parts may be found desirable inpractice, and I do not wish to be understood as being limited in thisrespect.

Again, instead of having two racks, one at each end of the planes 6, asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, for instance, a single rack may be employed, asshown in Fig. 7, particularly where the length of the plane 6 isrelatively short.

My invention may be also applied to struc` tures in which two or moreintermediate planes are employed, see for instance, Fig. 9, by referenceto which it will be seen that there are provided two intermediate planes6 6, these planes being connected together by rods or wires 23 so as tomove in unison. It will also be observed that in my construction, byreason of the rack and pinion construction andthe worm and worm gearconnections the tilting planes may be held locked, as it were, to anyposition to which they are adjusted by the operator.

In operation, the invention is especially advantageous in obtainingquick rising or dipping effects, according as the plane is tiltedupwardly or downwardly with rela tion to the direction of fiight and itis also of great advantage in landing, as by throwing the tilting planesupwardly, as the machine nears the ground, the flight may be checked andat the same time by thus increasing the angle of the tilting plane, withrelation to the line of flight, a greater lifting effect is obtained atthe moment of landing so as to engage the ground with less force andless danger of nosingl the machine into the ground than would be thecase were all of the planes stationary.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it is thought the complete construction, operation andadvantages of my invention will be readily understood by those skilledin the art.

IVhat I claim is:

1. An aeroplane having at least three sustaining planes extending tosubstantially equal planing distances at each side of the fuselage, twoof which are fixed and rigid, means for pivotally mounting anintermediate plane so that the same may be rotated on its centraltransverse axis, and means under the control of the aviator for tiltingsaid intermediate plane to change the angle of inclination at will.

2. A triplane aeroplane, comprising in combination with the upper andlower fixed planes, of an intermediate oscillatable plane consisting oftwo half-plane structures, one located at each side of the fuselage,means for mount-ing said oscillatable plane as a unit so that it will besusceptible of inclination, and means for inclining said plane as a unitwith relation to the line of Hight.

3. In an aeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planes, thecombination with a middle plane composed of a plurality ofplane-sections disposed in equal numbers on each side of the fuselage,and means for mounting said middle plane whereby said plane sections maybe inclined as a unit with relation to the`line of flight, means undercontrol of the aviator for effecting the inclination of said middleplane, and auxiliary fixed middle planes located laterally with respectto the tiltable middle plane.

4. In an aeroplane, the combination with upper and lower fixedsustaining planes, of

liti-h HEUNHU l IL a middle plane formed of distinct sets of sectionsatleast one of said sections being rigid and at least one of saidsections-being mounted to turn on a horizontal transverse axis wherebythe same may be inclined with relation to the line of fiight, therebeing at least two sets of sections, one located at each side of thefuselage and means for simultaneously inclining the movable elements ofsaid sections as a unit.

5. An aeroplane having a fixed sustaining plane structure, combined withan auxiliary sustaining plane structure disposed parallel to the fixedsustaining plane structure, said auxiliary plane structure including aplanesection located one at each side of the fuselage, means forsustaining said plane elements pivotally along their central transverseaxis, and means for inclining said plane sections a unit on theirpivots.

G. An aeroplane having a xed sustaining plane structure, combined withan auxiliary sustaining plane structure parallel to the fixed sustainingplane structure, said auxiliary plane structure including aplane-section located one at each side of the fuselage, means forsustaining said plane elements pivotally along their central transverseaxis, means for inclining said plane sections as a unit on their pivots,and means for locking said plane-sections in their various adjustedpositions.

7 In a hydroaeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planescombined with intermediate sustaining plane-units located in equalnumber on each side of the fuselage and means for mounting saidintermediate plane units whereby the same may be inclined as one tochange the angle of inclination with relation to the line of flight, andmeans under control of the aviator for effecting the action of saidinclinable plane, said means including provision lfor locking saidplanes to any position to which they may be adjusted by the operator.

8. In a hydroaeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planesand water alighting gear, the combination with intermediate sustainingplanes formed in sections, there being an equal number of sections ateach side of the fuselage, means for mounting said sections on theircentral transverse axes whereby the same may be inclined to change theangle of inclination with relation to the line of flight, and means forsimultaneously inclining the said intermediate planes as a unit.

9. In an aeroplane structure, the combination with the upper and lowersustaining planes, the fuselage and the horizontal tail rudder; of anintermediate sustaining plane structure consisting of at least two`units, one at each side of the fuselage, said intermediate sustainingplane structures being pivotally mounted on their transverse axes,connections between said horizontal rudder and said intermediate planeswhereby as said intermediate planes are tilted said horizontal rudderwill be operated, and means controlled by the aviator for simultaneouslytilting said intermediate planes as a unit and thereby also operatingthe rudder, said means including worm gear rack devices having provisionfor locking the intermediate plane members in any position.

JEAN F. WEBB, SR.

Copies o1.' this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

